P Sainath : The Real Picture
Feed-icon
Jun 21 2005
#
BHEL: The turtle and the hare-brained
Going back on its promise made in the Common Minimum Programme, the UPA government has put Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. on the carving table, allegedly to fund health and education. But the proceeds from the proposed sale of equity in BHEL are a fraction of what could be raised by different, less repulsive means, says P Sainath.
May 31 2005
#
Six out of ten?
The United Progressive Alliance Government has no sense of how serious things are in the countryside. It seems to have forgotten what and who brought it to power. P Sainath has his own report card on the government's performance, and it's very different from the one with the Prime Minister.
May 08 2005
#
The bank and the big bang
The World Bank continues to push its agenda on water privatisation even though its much-heralded examples from recent years turned out to be such dismal failures. The result will destroy countless small farmers and hand over agriculture to the rich and corporations, says P Sainath.
May 08 2005
Water: How the deal was done
: Water: How the deal was done
Why were more than a dozen bills introduced late on the last day of the session, giving legislators no time to even read them? Why was there no debate? Questions are now being asked about how the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Bill was passed, reports P Sainath.
May 08 2005
Maharashtra's coming water wars
: Maharashtra's coming water wars
A new law could put irrigation beyond the reach of most farmers in Vidharbha. Huge hikes in water charges, penalties against farmers with more than two children, and prison terms and large fines for non-payment, all signal the transfer of agriculture to a few rich farmers, observes P Sainath.
Feb 28 2005
#
Weddings on hold as prices crash
"It is time for my daughter to get married but where's the money? We ran a teashop for a long time. That folded as people had no more to spend." P Sainath finds that as the agrarian crisis has deepened in Wayanad, many people are now simply unable to afford weddings.
Feb 13 2005
#
Spice of life carries whiff of death
Imports of pepper from Sri Lanka, including large quantities that are simply routed through that country but not actually produced there, have devastated farmers in Wayanad, home of the world's best pepper. P Sainath continues his series on the agrarian crisis in this region.
Feb 10 2005
SLUM DWELLERS
The unbearable lightness of seeing
SLUM DWELLERS : The unbearable lightness of seeing

The elite wants a society geared to deal with rare disasters but shows no urgency at all when it comes to the destruction of the livelihoods of millions by policy and human agency. P Sainath turns our consciences towards Mumbai's demolitions of tens of thousands of the homes of slum-dwellers.

Feb 07 2005
#
Coffee sails globally, sinks locally
This is coffee territory, yet you cannot get the local brew in any restaurant here. Drop in at the Coffee Board in Kalpetta to enquire why this is so - and they offer you a cup of tea. P Sainath continues his series on the agrarian crisis in Kerala's Wayanad region.
Jan 31 2005
#
Commerce and crisis hit students
Two processes have hit Wayanad. One is the policy-driven commercialisation of education. And the second is the collapse of Wayanad's economy. For the first time in decades in this education-proud state thousands of students are dropping out of college and school. P Sainath continues his series on the agrarian crisis in Wayanad.

Palagummi Sainath is the winner of the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts. (click to read India Together's interview with P Sainath)

.

Over decades of reporting, he has established himself as among the pre-eminent chroniclers of rural life in our times. His stories, photo-essays, and other work record an India seldom visible to many of us. Sainath received the A.H. Boerma Award in 2001 for his contributions. In July 2004, he was awarded the Prem Bhatia Award for excellence in political reporting and analysis for 2003-04 in recognition of his 'outstanding, indeed exceptional, work on the problems of the poorest of the poor, especially in Andhra Pradesh.' He is the Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu.